Terms below shall have the following meanings:
ACCESS
The portion of a driveway or travel way for vehicles between
the edge of the road and the property line, commonly referred to as
the "apron." (For application see Driveway Ordinance.)
ACCESSWAY
Any portion of a lot 25 feet in width which serves to connect
the building area of the lot with the road on which it has frontage
and access. Accessway is not counted toward minimum lot area.
AQUIFER
A geologic formation which is capable of yielding usable
quantities of groundwater.
AQUIFER, BEDROCK
The water-bearing strata of fractured crystalline rock which
underlie upland till areas and are usually tapped by deep-driven wells
for domestic water supply.
AQUIFER, STRATIFIED DRIFT
An earth formation comprised of sedimentary deposits, primarily
lowland sand and gravel, which are capable of yielding significant
quantities of groundwater.
BUILDABLE AREA
The portion of a lot within which buildings or enclosed structures
may be erected as limited by these regulations.
COMMISSION
The Planning and Zoning Commission of the Town of Weston,
Connecticut.
CONSTRUCTION PLAN
The plan map which accompanies a subdivision plan and shows
the location, design and general specifications of specific improvements
required to be constructed as a condition of the subdivision approval.
DEAD-END STREET
Any road or connected group of roads with one common egress
and ingress.
DEVELOPER
Any person, persons, group, association, company, or corporation
who or which engages in the development of land, whether intended
for resale or not.
DEVELOPMENT
The construction of facilities or alteration of land which
attends the creation of building sites, roads, driveways, drainage,
buildings or structures, utilities, sewage disposal systems, or any
other intensively built use of land.
DRAINAGE
Any system, natural or man-made, arranged to collect and
transport the surface or subsurface runoff water discharged from land.
DRIVEWAY
A graded and constructed roadway situated on a lot, designed
to be used as the means of vehicular ingress from a road to the site
of a building or structure.
DUAL FRONTAGE
A lot which extends along two or more public or private roads,
such roads being owned by other than the lot owner.
DWELLING
A structure or portion thereof which is used exclusively
for human habitation.
EASEMENT
A designated area of real property for which specific legal
rights have been granted by its owner to others, together with those
assigned rights.
EASEMENT, ACCESS
An easement which grants to authorized persons, vehicles,
or conveyances the right of travel thereon between specified points,
together with rights to improve the same for safety or convenience.
EASEMENT, DRAINAGE
An easement which grants to public or private parties the
right to discharge collected stormwater thereon, or to convey the
stormwater to another point of discharge, together with rights to
channel, pipe or otherwise control the flow of water.
EASEMENT, NEGATIVE
An easement which precludes the owner of the land from doing
that which the owner would be entitled to do if the easement did not
exist.
EASEMENT, POSITIVE
An easement which grants, to the Town or to others, rights
for specified uses of property for installation and maintenance of
improvements thereon, such as utility lines, slope rights, recreational
or safety use, or development rights.
EASEMENT, SCENIC
An easement which grants, to the Town or to others, the right
to preserve and maintain in an open or undisturbed natural condition
an area of special scenic or natural value, such as a stream, a water
body, a ledge, a trail, or a distant view.
EASEMENT, SIGHT LINE
An easement which grants to the Town, or to the holder of
fee title to a road, the right to establish clear sight lines between
approaching traffic.
EASEMENT, SLOPE
An easement which grants to the Town, or to the holder of
fee title to a road, the right to use an area adjacent to the road
for maintenance of a stable earth slope or constructed embankment.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES MANUAL
The Weston Environmental Resources Manual, a Guide to Natural
Carrying Capacity in Connecticut, booklet and maps prepared for the
Weston Planning and Zoning Commission, September 1976, on file at
Weston Town Hall.
EROSION
The process by which water and wind cause the removal and
redistribution of soil or other earth materials.
FLOODPLAIN
An area of lowland subject to intermittent flooding as defined
in the Floodplain Management Regulations of the Town of Weston.
FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS
The Floodplain Management Regulations of the Town of Weston,
Connecticut (effective December 4, 1978), as now and hereafter adopted
by said Town.
FLOODPLAIN, ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR
Any land contained within the one-hundred-year frequency
flood boundaries as now or hereafter shown on the rate maps adopted
for flood insurance purposes by the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Federal Insurance Administration, United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development, or successor agencies.
FLOODWAY (also REGULATED FLOODWAY)
The channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent
land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood
without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation.
FRONTAGE
The extent of a lot along any road, street or public way
on which it abuts.
GRADE (also GRADIENT)
The relative inclination or slope of a road or driveway,
expressed as percent deviation from the horizontal at any point (e.g.,
a seven-percent grade indicates that that surface is rising or declining
at a rate of seven feet vertical distance per 100 feet horizontal
distance at the cited point).
INLAND WETLAND REGULATIONS
An Ordinance Concerning the Regulation of Inland Wetlands
and Watercourses of the Town of Weston (effective March 16, 1977)
as now and hereafter adopted by the Town of Weston Conservation Commission.
LOT
A parcel of land used, intended or potentially available for building purposes. (Note: For certain limitations see Zoning Regulations §
240-74.)
MAINTENANCE COVENANT
A written agreement, approved as to form and content by the
Planning and Zoning Commission, designating lots and binding the respective
lot owners, with their successors and assigns, to specified responsibilities
to maintain shared facilities (such as driveways, drainage, open space,
recreation, etc.), as a condition of subdivision plan approval.
OPEN SPACE
Land permanently reserved from intensive development and
dedicated to a suitable public or private organization for safety,
recreation or for the purpose of preserving said land in a natural
condition consistent with the conservation objectives of these regulations.
PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT, TOWN
The official Plan of Development for the Town of Weston,
Connecticut, with all amendments thereto, as now and hereafter adopted
by the Town of Weston Planning and Zoning Commission.
REAR LOT (FLAG LOT)
A lot on or abutting a public road and where access to the
public road is by a narrow, private right-of-way.
RECHARGE AREA, PRIMARY
The entire land surface and subsurface storage area of a
stratified drift aquifer; this area receives groundwater recharge
directly by percolation from its surface as well as laterally from
adjacent secondary recharge area.
RECHARGE AREA, SECONDARY
The land surface and subsurface drainage area upland from
and directly tributary to a stratified drift aquifer; groundwater
and surface water not reaching perennial streams in this area recharge
the primary aquifer.
REGULATIONS
The Subdivision Regulations of the Town of Weston, as herein
contained, together with all amendments and attachments incorporated
by reference.
RESERVE AREA, SEPTIC
An area of a lot designated and reserved for potential replacement
of an existing or proposed sewage disposal system, approved for such
purpose by the Westport-Weston Health District.
RESERVE STRIP
A tract or strip of land set aside to prevent the extension
of a road, access drive, or utility line.
RESUBDIVISION
A change in a map of an approved or a recorded subdivision
or resubdivision if such change:
(1)
Affects any street layout shown on such map;
(2)
Affects any area reserved thereon for public use; or
(3)
Diminishes the size of any lot shown thereon and creates an
additional building lot, if any of the lots shown thereon have been
conveyed after the approval or recording of such map.
RETENTION AREA OR BASIN
A land surface area designated to collect and impound the
increased stormwater runoff generated by land development, for the
purpose of controlled release to groundwater or surface streams.
RIGHT-OF-WAY
The legally defined strip of land which constitutes an easement
for roadway or other purposes.
ROAD (STREET)
Any street, highway, avenue, lane or way dedicated to public
use for movement of vehicles and pedestrians and which is shown on
a subdivision plan approved by the Commission (or a map filed in the
office of the Town Clerk prior to March 1, 1956); said road may be
a state, Town or private road but excludes private driveways and rights-of-way.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS, TOWN
Standard Specifications for Subdivision Road Construction,
Town of Weston, Connecticut, effective April 1, 1970, as now and hereafter
adopted by the Town of Weston, which ordinance is hereby incorporated
by reference.
SEDIMENTATION
The process by which earth material, both mineral and organic,
is carried in suspension by air, ice or water.
SIGHT LINE DISTANCE (also CLEAR SIGHT LINE)
The distance, measured in feet along an unobstructed line
of vision, between a viewer and a distant object. For analysis, required
sight lines are measured as follows:
(1)
At an intersection, approaching required "stop" line, taken
from a point 3.5 feet above grade and 15.0 feet back from the travel
way of the intersecting road, extending to approaching objects 4.0
feet high.
(2)
For all moving traffic lanes of a roadway, taken from a point
3.5 feet above grade at the center of the travel lane, extending forward
to all parts of the travel way to objects 0.5 foot high.
SILTATION
The process by which earth material is deposited in water
bodies or lowland areas.
SLOPE
The average natural grade of inclination of the earth's
surface, measured for any point as the percent of deviation from the
horizontal, based on topographic datum at five-foot intervals (e.g.,
a twenty-percent slope indicates land surface is rising or declining
at an average 20 feet vertical distance per 100 feet horizontal distance
at the cited point).
SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE (SCS) HANDBOOK
The Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook for Connecticut,
published by the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation
Service, Storrs, Connecticut, 1976, and as it may be subsequently
revised.
SOIL SURVEY
The Soil Survey of Fairfield County, Connecticut, published
by the United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation
Service, 1981, Storrs, Connecticut. General types of soil classifications.
SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM
A complete design or assembly consisting of a solar energy
collector, an energy storage facility (where used), and components
for the distribution of transformed energy.
STRUCTURE
A combination of materials to form a construction for use,
occupancy, or ornamentation, whether installed on, above, or below
the surface of land or water.
SUBDIVISION
The division of a tract or parcel of land into three or more
parts or lots, made subsequent to the adoption of subdivision regulations
by the Commission, for the purpose, whether immediate or future, of
sale or building development (for municipal, conservation or agricultural
purposes), including resubdivision.
SUBDIVISION APPLICATION
The plan map and other documents which together comprise
a complete application for subdivision approval.
TOWN
The Town of Weston, Connecticut.
TRACT
A lot, parcel or group of contiguous parcels comprising a
subdivision.
TRAVEL WAY
That portion of a road or driveway which is designed and
improved for the regular accommodation of vehicular traffic, shoulders,
intersections and turnarounds.
TURNAROUND
The terminal portion of a dead-end road, designed to facilitate
the turning of vehicles to the opposite (or return) traffic flow direction.
TURNAROUND, TEMPORARY
A turnaround serving a dead-end road which is planned for
eventual extension, where both extension and turnaround are in accordance
with plans approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
WATERCOURSE
Any natural or artificial stream, river, creek, ditch, channel,
canal, conduit, culvert, drain, waterway, gully, ravine or wash in
which water flows in a definite direction or course, either continuously
or intermittently, and has a definite channel, bed and banks, and
includes any area adjacent thereto subject to inundation by reason
of overflow or floodwater.
WATERSHED
The area drained by a given stream or river.
WETLANDS
Land consisting of soils which are poorly drained, very poorly
drained, alluvial or floodplain as more particularly defined in the
Weston Inland Wetland Regulations.
ZERO INCREMENTAL RUNOFF (also ZERO EXTRA RUNOFF)
The principle of detaining stormwater runoff on a site, through
natural or artificial means, to achieve a rate and volume of stormwater
discharge from the site which will be no greater after site development
than the maximum rate and volume of stormwater discharge prior to
development.
ZONING REGULATIONS
The Zoning Regulations of the Town of Weston, Connecticut,
as now and hereafter adopted.